


Dream Of Me

by LadyKenz347



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Extra Angst, F/M, More angst, Rare Pairings, This is really sad, mostly angst, some smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-02
Updated: 2019-09-02
Packaged: 2020-10-05 06:58:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20484761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadyKenz347/pseuds/LadyKenz347
Summary: Written for Sing Me a Rare: The Soundtracks. Inspired by "I Dreamed A Dream" from Les MiserablesPansy learns the hard truths of moving on after great loss.SMaR Winner:Overall Winner (EEEEP!!!)The One That Never Leaves YouBest AngstSMaR Runner Up:Best Use of SongBest Unhappily Ever Afte





	Dream Of Me

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Sing Me a Rare: The Soundtracks. Much love to my beta and/or alpha who shall remain nameless until the fest is complete.

**May 1st, 1998**

The soft waves of the lake rolled up on the grassy shore; a gentle lapping paired with the soft echo of Theo’s heartbeat was quickly lulling Pansy into a late afternoon nap. His arms tightened around her and he shifted to settle her further into his embrace, chin resting atop the crown of her head. 

“It’s almost supper, Pans.” She squeezed her eyes shut tighter, in a vain attempt to ignore him. “We ought to get back soon.” 

“Not hungry,” she mumbled quickly, gripping his forearms and wrapping them more tightly around her middle. The sun had warmed the spring day easily, but as it made its lazy descent below the horizon, Pansy felt the chill of evening creeping over the grounds. “Let’s stay. Stay forever, maybe.” 

Theo barked a laugh, his chest rumbling her further awake. “Live at the Black Lake?  _ Nah _ , we’ll go somewhere else, after all this is over.”

Theo had a remarkable way of saying things as if they were nothing. Commenting on the war, or the Carrows or  _ Him _ without so much as a blink of an eye. He was so rottenly full of optimism, so sure there would be an  _ after _ to look forward to. 

Every day, every moment, felt like it was creeping closer to  _ something.  _ To combat the sinking dread weighing down her weary body, she’d let herself get lost in his dreams. He’d tell her about how they’d go to America and see the Chrysler Building and the Grand Canyon, then maybe off to South America where they’d dance in the streets, pressed belly to belly and swaying to a song they’d never understand. 

After that, they’d see the Great Wall of China and the islands in the Mediterranean, eat pasta in Rome or take a gondola in Venice. Sometimes, he went so far as to research their adventures, finding books on different locations and bringing them to her with a wide grin and excitement vibrating in his kiss. 

He had plans…  _ dreams _ . Dreams that included marrying her the instant he was able to secure his trust, and grabbing the first Portkey out of Britain. They were a lovely distraction. Especially when the wailing of Hufflepuff first years echoed through the dungeons. 

Pansy hummed against his chest, nuzzling her cheek against the thin fabric of his Oxford, and dragging sinful breaths in through her nose. She’d never forget the way his expensive cologne lingered until late in the day. “Where to this time?” A yawn chased the final word from her lips. 

“What is your general outlook on penguins?” he asked, his voice laced with that cheeky mischief that she found so endearing. 

She chuckled, giving up on sleep and tilting her head back so she could stare at him properly. “Do people often have outlooks on flightless birds?”

Theo’s long fingers pushed her raven fringe from her temples, threading through her hair and curling around the back of her head. “It never hurts to ask.” His lopsided smile sent a flutter through her stomach as he dipped his mouth closer to hers, catching her lips in a featherlight kiss that stole her breath. 

Pansy curled in his lap like a sated kitten, drawing her legs up and wrapping her arm around the back of his neck to deepen the kiss. When their lips parted, Theo rested his forehead on hers, a grin spreading across his full lips. “Love you.” 

He’d done it again. Said something, like it was nothing—like loving her was the most commonplace thing in the world. 

“Love you.” The dread returned, niggling at her consciousness and stealing her happy moments. 

* * *

Later that night, Pansy woke, blinking away her grogginess as she felt warm hands snake around her belly. 

_ Theo. _

“You’re going to get us in trouble,” she whispered, a sleepy smile tugging on her lips as he saddled behind her. 

With a whispered spell the tapestries around her bed slid closed and she chuckled, shimmying her bum into his lap as his hand skated over her nightie and filled his palm with the weight of her breast. 

“Me? Trouble? Don’t know the meaning of the word.” His lips brushed against her shoulder as the hand previously massaging her breasts slipped down her tummy and under the hem of her negligee, quickly finding the seam of her knickers and pulling them to the side. “Even if I did, you’re always worth a little trouble.” Her giggle turned to a quiet moan as one finger slid easily inside her and she quickly silenced the space around them. 

There was a rustle of pants and his warm length slid between her thighs, kissing her entrance as he rucked the silk fabric around her waist and impaled her in a single fluid movement. She gasped, bending to allow him easier access from behind as his hands mapped out the details of her body in a thorough exploration: her knees then her thighs, her aching clit and the soft curve of her mound. Then travelled along the shallow line of her belly, up to the to the delicate curve under her breast, her pebbled nipples and her clavicle, her neck, and her hair. 

He left not an inch of her untouched, peppering kisses wherever he could reach as he set a mercilessly slow pace between her thighs. With practiced expertise, his hands played her until she was clenching and crashing, orgasm washing over her in waves as he spilled inside her. With the final twitch of his hips, he slipped from her and dragged her back into his arms, kissing the hollow of her throat. 

“You should go,” she whispered, resting back into him with lidded eyes. 

Theo groaned. “Let me stay.” 

Pansy loosened a chuckle and turned in his arms, stretching to kiss him properly and then settling her cheek against his chest. “I always want you to stay.” 

His hold tightened and he yawned. “Dream of me,” he whispered, and she counted his breaths as they evened and a light snore filled the air. 

“I always do.” 

**May 2nd, 1998**

“ _ Pansy! _ Pansy, listen to me, alright? There’s a back way out—” Theo’s words were tumbling past his lips faster than she could make sense of them. Above them, she could hear the distant sounds of the battle beginning; even the dungeon walls shook from explosions overhead. Her fingers wound in his pristine white shirt as hordes of students rushed past them. “I need you to go with them, Pans. I’ll meet you after.” 

Pansy watched as he swallowed thickly, his brows low and furrowed as he shook her lightly. Shaking her head back and forth, she tried to tug him with her. “Come with me,” she pleaded, tears sliding down her cheeks. 

“I can’t.” Theo’s knees bent and he stared at her, a fierceness fringing his gaze that she’d never seen before. “I have to get Malfoy. The dumb fuck went off with—you know what, it doesn’t matter. I have to.  _ Daph! _ ” Theo shouted over her shoulder. “Take Pansy with you, and don’t stop until you’re off the grounds. Not even then.” Theo turned back towards her, his features softening as he wiped the tears from her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. 

His mouth dipped onto hers, kissing her with a soft reverence that made her chest tighten with a vice-like grip. A strangled cry slipped from her and she could taste tears on her lips. Pansy tangled her fingers in his hair, pulling him into a firmer kiss. It was he who broke their lips apart, and she was still whimpering and clinging to him as he tried to disentangle her fingers from his clothes. 

“ _ Daph _ !” Theo shouted and Pansy felt her friend’s arms wind around her, dragging her backwards. 

“We’ve got to go, Pansy. We’ll see him after; he’s just going for Draco,” Daphne reassured softly. “Right, Theo?”

“Right,” Theo agreed, his mouth curled up in a lopsided, barely-there smile. Dropping his forehead to hers, he lowered his voice to a whisper just for her. “I’m going to see you soon. But I need you to go—need to know you’re safe. You’ve got to go.  _ Now.”  _

_ “ _ Theo,” she whined. “Please, don’t do this. It doesn’t feel right—we shouldn’t separate.” 

“I’m in love with you, Pansy Parkinson. And I’m going to be kissing you before sunrise.” His chuckle was dark and not nearly reassuring enough. “ _ Go.  _ For me.” He pressed a final kiss to her forehead and turned, wand in hand, and tore down the long corridor without another look back. 

Pansy’s legs buckled and before her knees could crack against the stone, Daphne caught her, wrapping her in a fierce hug as she succumbed to her despair. 

It was a long few minutes before Pansy found her way to her feet, and she was dragged down the hall, her eyes glazed over and a slow trudge to her steps. 

“ _ Fuck _ !” Daphne cried, stomping her foot at the end of the hall. “I don’t know where the exit is exactly—it’s down one of these halls. Maybe…” On her tiptoes, she peered down the empty hall. They’d waited too long; everyone running had already run. 

As Daphne continued with her mumbling monologue, an ember was stoked in Pansy’s belly. Quiet and thoughtful, but still not fully formed.  _ What was she doing?  _

She was running and Theo was up there.  _ Fighting _ . 

Blinking a few times, the ember flared into a fire and she grabbed Daphne hard by the elbows. “I’ve got to go. I’m so sorry.” Pulling her into a bone-crushing hug, she released her friend and pulled her wand out, her feet carrying her away from Daphne’s pained pleas down the hall. 

* * *

Pansy’s mother had always told her she’d been born into chaos. Every year on her birthday, her mum would tell her the story about how she’d gone into labor at a charity event, full ball gown and everything. Pansy had refused to make it even to the privacy of a nearby room. Yes, Pansy Parkinson had been born in the hall outside the kitchen, nine pounds of pure pink, squelching baby. 

Her mum had always said it followed her through life. Pansy was the eye of the tornado, chaos swirling around her yet never touching her. 

_ Chaos.  _

Nothing Pansy had ever seen had been true chaos.  _ This— _ this was utter mayhem. Broken bodies lay in small streams of fresh blood, mangled limbs bent unnaturally, and glazed, unseeing eyes that stared towards the heavens. She was frozen in the madness of it, unable to take a single step even as the walls of Hogwarts crumbled to rubble all around. 

Across the courtyard, a giant swung a club into a column and sent it flying into a group of students; Pansy’s mouth fell open in a silent cry, her eyes etched on horror as a tremble wracked her body. Someone ran into her, with a flurry of wild curls, but Pansy didn’t see her. Couldn’t see past the frenzy. 

_ Theo. _

The thought of him sent a jolt into her heart and suddenly, she was moving. Searching and running, refusing to look down at the blank stares at her feet. He wasn’t down there, he couldn’t be. He was safe with Malfoy and damnit, she should have gone. He was probably waiting for her outside the Forbidden—

Her gaze caught across the courtyard on a tall boy with chestnut hair falling in his blue eyes and his wand arm pulled up in a shield. There was no thinking, not even for a moment. Her feet carried her over the bodies, over the blood and the children. 

“ _ Theo _ !” she cried out, a relieved grin working over her face as she dodged a wayward spell—she was nearly there.  _ So close. _

Everything moved too quickly then. Theo heard her call and his gaze flickered in her direction. Curiosity morphed into disbelief, then quickly to anger as his shield faltered. His brows flickered, a flash of something behind his clear blue eyes. “ _ Pans _ ?” 

A jet of vibrant green shot through the air, piercing his chest. She caught him, vainly trying to bear the brunt of his weight as they fell in a heap to the ground. He gasped as the life was ripped from his body, his eyes dulling and a final quiet puff of air slipping past his lips. No fanfare, no blood, no weeping for more days with her. 

Just,  _ dead. _

Pansy’s hands froze over his body as he lay lifeless in her lap, blinking at his limp form as the war raged all around. “Wait, no.” She shook her head, eyes clenching painfully shut. “No.  _ No, no, no. _ Theo?” Her palms fell to rest on his chest and waited for the inevitable rise and fall.  _ Nothing _ . 

Sucking in a shocked gasp, her fingers flew up to her lips and she continued shaking her head. “No. You’re fine, love. You’re fine. Just— _ Theo _ ?” 

Her voice cracked painfully. It was impossible; he’d just been here. He’d been fighting, warm and alive and coming for her. Her fingers wound in his shirt and she shook him. 

“Theo—wake up.” She slapped him hard on his chest. “Theo?  _ Theo! _ ” Her cries turned to broken sobs as she pulled his face in her hands and pressed her forehead against his. “Love, please wake up. I’m so sorry—I should’ve gone.”  _ Hiccup. _ “I just had to see you, please. Please wake up.  _ I can’t do this without you _ —” The final words were barely a whisper and her tears fell onto his pale cheeks in long streams. 

She pressed her wet lips to his cheeks and forehead, crushing his body into hers as her repeated pleas fell on deaf ears. “I love you. I love you, please don’t go.” 

“ _ Fuck _ .” A new voice fell over her, low and choked. Her eyes shot upward and landed on a familiar blond shock of hair. 

Letting out a relieved breath, Pansy gripped his wrist, tugging him to his knees next to her. “Thank Merlin, Malfoy. Help me—we need to get him to the infirmary. Can you—” Her voice cracked and she blinked through her watery gaze, trying to make sense of Draco falling to his knees next to her, staring at his best friend with a vacant expression. “ _ Can you just fucking pick him up _ ?” she shouted. She didn’t mean it. 

“He’s gone, Pans—”

“Bullshite! Pick him up, you fuck! We can make it.” She looked over her shoulder at the spectacle of a fight coming to a head and she couldn’t bring herself to give a shit. “Please, Dra—”

“He’s fucking  _ dead _ , Pansy! We’ve got to go.” Draco gripped her hard around the top of her arm, dragging her to her feet as she screamed, kicking at him and reaching for Theo. “Stop it! Do you want to get yourself fucking killed? Theo would want you out of here and I’m not about to deny my mate the last thing I could do for him, alright?  _ We’re going _ ,” he demanded, his teeth gritted as her blood-soaked shoes slipped on the stone. 

“Just—Just let me say goodbye.” She barely recognized her voice, drenched in unbearable despair and broken by her relentless sobs. “I need to say goodbye.” 

His fingers loosened and she rushed to Theo’s side, laying a kiss on his lukewarm lips, then another and another. “I love you, and I’m so sorry… so sorry we can’t do all the things you wanted to do.” She covered her trembling lips with the back of her hand as she stared at him, desperate to remember what his smile looked like… 

“PANSY!  _ NOW! _ ”

“I’ll dream of you, love.” A final whisper, before a final kiss. Even as Malfoy dragged her away, she kept her eyes trained on him—on Theo. 

**May 2nd, 1999**

The night was too damn cold; it was May for crying out fucking loud. Pansy brought a cigarette to her lips, pulling a long drag until her lungs were filled painfully with smoke and frigid air. 

One year. 

Apparently, it was appropriate to celebrate the death of hundreds of magical humans and creatures at the one-year mark; Pansy had begrudgingly attended.

She’d known there was a chance. A sliver of desperate hope that Theo wouldn’t have crossed over, but she hadn’t let herself succumb to it. And for good reason.

He didn’t come, of course. She’d  _ known  _ he wouldn’t _ . _ But still… the pain was fresh and the wound just barely puckering into a scab; at any slight provocation she thought it might burst open, leaving her emotions seeping and raw as they’d been for all those months. 

It was an awful thing, to know you’d killed the man you loved. That had you  _ not _ intervened, fate might have let you keep him a while longer. Even worse, was knowing you couldn’t do a bloody fucking thing about it. 

_ It’ll get better.  _

_ You have your whole life to fall in love again.  _

_ It’s not your fault. _

Oh, she hated all the well-meaning platitudes from those nosy cunts her mother kept around her drawing room for tea. But she hated the last one the most. It was the most blatant of the lies and it served her no purpose whatsoever; she knew it was her fault. 

Pansy sucked her cigarette to the filter before dropping it on the cobblestones and snubbing it out with the toe of her pump. She released the smoke, long and drawn out, and relished the way it burned her airway. 

“Pansy?” 

Her lips quirked. Of course, he’d be nearby. 

She let go of a heavy breath. “What is it, Draco?”

“Just checking on you. Have you seen him?” Draco’s voice was deep and edging on hopeful. The poor sod. 

She shook her head. “No. I didn’t expect to. You?” 

He entered her peripheral vision, leaning lazily against a rebuilt pillar and staring up at the stars. “I’d hoped to. Bum a smoke?” 

Clicking open her clutch, she lifted out two smokes, offering him one. She brought hers lazily up to her painted lips, letting it sit there as Draco used his wand on his and then on hers. They stood in silence as she took a few deep drags and matched his stance, leaning on the pillar to her right. A strange silence settled between them, heavy and waiting for more. 

“How’d we get here, Draco?” she breathed, a single tear breaking through and sliding from the corner of her eye. “Sometimes, I just sit and try to piece it together.”

Draco took a drag, blowing it out of the side of his mouth and staring anywhere but at her. “You can’t. We have only a few pieces of a puzzle that lasted several decades. We were pawns in a game of wizard’s chess bigger than we could have imagined. I don’t think it’ll ever make sense.” He chuckled darkly, his gaze falling to the stones at their feet. “I can take the blame just as much as you—hell, maybe more. He would have gone with you, had he not wanted to come for me. Doesn’t matter,” Draco sighed, cigarette smoke billowing in front of his face. “He’s still gone.”

Pansy’s gaze darkened and she felt as if her ribs were closing in on her lungs, stealing her breath and allowing her only shallow amounts of air. “He had all these ridiculous things planned for us. He talked about them endlessly.” She swallowed around a tight knot forming in the base of her throat. “These massive dreams I couldn’t wrap my head around.” 

“Yeah, he used to tell me about them.” Draco chuckled, taking the last puff of his cigarette and flicking it into the grass. 

Pansy snorted, blinking away her tears and staring up at the sky. “Merlin, that stupid sod wanted to marry me. Can you believe it?”

Draco nodded, kicking the toe of his shoe at nothing. “He loved you, Pansy.”

Her jaw quivered until her teeth were chattering and she looked back towards the horizon. Behind her she could hear cheerful music filtering through the open windows, and she knew that despite the despair many of the people in that room often felt, they’d found a way to feel joy again. Pansy had no such optimism for herself. “I still love him. I don’t think I’ll ever stop.” 

Draco kicked off his spot and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, squeezing lightly. “You never should,” he said quietly, pressing his lips to the top of her head, and without another word, disappeared back inside. 

Tossing her cigarette away, she turned and stared at the spot where Theo had died just a year ago. The blood was gone, as was the smoke and the lingering scents of death. But she still felt it as fresh as she had back then, with a sad shake of her head she made for the Apparition point. 

**May 2nd, 2003**

Pansy’s mind was fuzzy with too much wine, and as she stumbled from the Great Hall and into the courtyard, she realized her feet were rather sluggish as well. She hiccuped and found a pillar to lean against, fumbling for a cigarette and bringing it to her lips. 

“ _ Those are just awful for you, love _ .” 

Pansy froze, the filter of her smoke hanging loosely on her lipsticked lips. She didn’t move,  _ didn’t breathe, _ blinking a few times. She  _ knew _ that voice. Knew it intimately. 

Slowly, she turned. A horrified gasp filled her lungs as her eyes caught on  _ him. _ Six-foot-two, and just barely seventeen; too-long hair that hung in his bright eyes. 

The cigarette fell to her feet and she took a few slow and steady steps towards him, her fingers lifting into the cool night air. “ _ Theo?”  _ Her voice was barely a whisper, her throat impossibly tight as tears welled in her eyes. “It can’t be—”

“Ah, can’t be, schman’t be. I’m here, doll.” He floated towards her, the edges of his form whipping in ethereal blue tendrils and fading into the blackness of night. “Didn’t think I’d miss the chance to see my girl one last time, did you?”

“Theo!” she cried, wiping the wet streaks from her cheek as she rushed at him, stopping just before she met his ghostly form. What a wholly cruel thing it was to find him again and be unable to touch him. She was desperate for his warmth, his scent, for anything that meant he was still  _ here. _ “How is this possible? I—I came for you! I came back years ago and you weren’t here.” She shook her head, unable to stop her frantic sobs. 

“Shhh, don’t cry. The afterlife is a mess and finding my way here took longer than I expected; I’m here now.” His form materialized next to her and she could feel the ghostly chill of him kiss her skin, sending shivers down her spine. “I’ve missed you every day.”

“Theo,” she sobbed, reaching for him and cursing when her fingers slipped through his chest. “I miss you so fucking much. I’ve never stopped. I can’t stop dreaming of you and we’re doing all that ridiculous bullshite you always wanted to do. Living our years together until we are old and wrinkly.” A choked, dark laugh chased her words and she clenched her eyes shut. “I love you so much and I’m so sorry— _ sofuckingsorry.” _

_ “ _ Hey, hey,” he crooned, swirling to the other side of her. “Don’t you dare apologize, Pansy Parkinson. This was how it was supposed to be, I see that now. You’ll see someday.” 

“Don’t fucking say that!” she shouted, then folded her lips in because the last thing she wanted was to fucking fight with a ghost in the few minutes she had with him. “Don’t. I distracted you. I— _ I killed you. _ ”

“You didn’t, I promise. Goyle Senior killed me, and I know you can’t see past this right now, but I can.  _ I can _ . It’ll get better and you’ll be happy and have beautiful babies—”

“ _ Shut up!”  _ Pansy could barely breathe, an unbearable weight had settled on her chest and she wanted to slam her fists into his chest just to  _ feel _ something. “Don’t say that. I don’t want babies or happiness if it’s not with you.” 

There was a moment of near silence; the only sound was her shattered breaths. The pain was visceral and overwhelming and when she looked up at him again, she found his face just as she remembered it. Kind and open and full of ridiculous fucking hope. 

“You deserve it, Pansy. Even if it’s not with me. And  _ trust me _ —” For just a moment, his voice faltered. “I wanted to be the bloke to give it to you. Really, I did. But there is a full life waiting to be lived by you.” 

“It was supposed to be different than this, Theo,” she cried. “I had a dream my life would be so much different than  _ this— _ than this hell I’ve found myself in, and I don’t want to do it without you. Not any of it.”

“I know this life isn’t what we had planned.”

“Life?” she spat, using the back of her hand to wipe away her black tears. “Those grandiose dreams you had for us—life killed them.  _ Life killed you _ . I don’t want a life like that.”

“I know. But I need you to do it anyway.” His shimmering brows rose high on his forehead and even though his eyes were wholly different, they were still the same. “For me.” 

She shook her head, eyelids clenching painfully as a loud sob cracked through her. “I don’t know how to start, Theo. I don’t want to.” 

Theo took a long swirl around her, his lips quirking up. “Start in Paris, I think. Then maybe the islands off of Greece? Walk at least part of the Great Wall, and then go see the Grand Canyon. Do all the things I dreamed for us;  _ remember me in those places. _ ” 

Pansy snorted, the ice around her heart splintering. “Yeah? Go on a trip? Then what?”

“Then,  _ move on _ .” His words felt like an ice pick to her heart and she nearly fell over at the thought of such a preposterous notion. “I don’t want you to stay here, not in this place where you’re frozen in time and remembering the dead boyfriend from your childhood. I want more for you than that. Promise me, Pansy.”

Waves of anguish and heartbreak crashed over her, but something about the pure desperation of his plea had her nodding her agreement. 

“I can come back and see you,” she reasoned. “When the trip is over and I’ll tell you all—” There was a flash in his iridescent eyes that made her breath hitch. His lips tugged up on one side and he rose his translucent hand to hover over her cheek; the cold bit at her skin but she didn’t dare speak of it. 

“I’m crossing over tonight, Pansy. And don’t you start,” he cut her off before she could interrupt. “I stayed for two reasons and two reasons only. To tell you how utterly and completely I love you. You made my short life worth living a hundred times over and I wouldn’t change a bloody minute of it if it meant I got to share those months with you.” 

That was it, the final blow to her heart. Her shoulders slumped and her breath left her in a ruined huff. 

“The second is to tell you that it wasn’t your fault. I love that you loved me enough to come for me. I would have died in this courtyard regardless, and what a lucky son of a bitch I am that your face is the last thing I got to see in that life.” His voice was tight, unable to shed the tears he seemed to be holding back.

Her chin tucked into her chest and she felt a steady stream of tears coat her neck. “I love you.” It was all she could manage, and it wasn’t near enough. She lifted her eyes once more to look at him, to study and memorize the hard planes of his jaw and the bow of his lower lip. The lip she’d kissed a hundred times and taken for granted. “Why do you have to go? Why can’t you stay here and that way I can see you every now and again.” 

He shook his head sadly. “You’ll never move on if you know I’m here. But I’m with you— _ always _ . My love for you is bigger than death. And I won’t be far off, I’ll wait for you where this part ends and the next begins. I’ll wait as long as you need.” 

Pansy’s face pinched tightly and she nodded, her fingers once again lifting towards him, eager to feel even the chill of him. Her eyes shot open, round and wide as her fingertips pressed against the hard planes of his chest. Shallow breaths slipped past her lips as she tried to make sense of it. 

He was was real and there and warm. 

“I have a secret,” he said, his eyes dancing with happiness she couldn’t understand. “I pulled some strings to cross over. One minute. Just one in this body before I go—” His fingers curled around the back of her neck and crushed her mouth onto his, their tears joining and coating their kiss as she sobbed and pressed herself into him. It wasn’t  _ really _ real. It couldn’t be, but it felt like it, and he smelled like cologne and cedarwood and tasted like cinnamon candy and she sobbed as he kissed her fiercely. 

Their lips parted, her fingers digging into his collar, and she trembled under his touch. “Don’t go, Theo.  _ Please _ , please don’t go.” 

“It’s time, love.” Her mouth fell open as his body shifted back, turning a brilliant shade of ethereal blue. Her fingers once again slipped through him and she panicked, reaching out for him and finding nothing. The last tendrils of his form dissipated in the night air. “ _ Dream of me _ .” 

Blinking at the empty space in front of her, she nodded. “I always do.” 

** Epilogue **

“Mummy! Mummy, look!” Pansy’s chubby little daughter sprinted across the room and into her waiting arms. 

Fixing the three-year-old on her hip, Pansy took the leather book from her hands. “What is it, my darling?” 

“Picture, mummy! Pictures of you and adventures! I want to go on adventures, too! Daddy says I’m too little.” 

Rolling her eyes, Pansy set the album down on her desk and stared at the cover. She wasn’t sure she’d seen it before. “Draco?” she called loudly. “What is this?” 

Her husband appeared, hands shoved in his trouser pockets and a mischievous grin on his face. “I made it for you.” 

Furrowing her brow, Pansy flipped the cover open. Inside were the pictures from her trip around the world. Greece and China, a gondola in Venice and the Chrysler Building in America. She’d gone to see penguins in South Africa, and there she was dancing in the streets of South America. “Where on earth did you find these?” she breathed, flipping through each page with a quiet reverence. Her trip had been nearly ten years ago now.

“Shoved in some dusty little box. Thought they deserved better.” Draco pressed a kiss to her temple and took Lyra from her arms. “Take a look at the last page, love,” he called over his shoulder. With a curious huff, she flipped the album to the very last page and her breath caught in her throat. 

She’d forgotten this picture entirely. 

Theo with his arms wrapped around her down by the lake at Hogwarts. Daphne had taken it, insisting that they remember the good times. In the photograph, Theo had his arms wound around her shoulders and he pressed a kiss to her cheek before they both smiled brightly for the camera. 

“ _ Theo,”  _ she said quietly, her fingertips brushing over the glossy surface of the photo. Somewhere in the last ten years, the memories had shifted from unbearable to happy. She could laugh at the moments they’d shared and remember them fondly. 

The kids in that photo were so untouched by the realities of war, still hopeful and full of dreams. The war had taken so much from them all. Lifting her fingers to her lips she kissed them softly and then pressed them back down on the photo. 

“See you in my dreams, love.” 

* * *

Inspired by I Dreamed a Dream from Le Miserables

_ And still, I dream he'll come to me _

_ That we will live the years together _

_ But there are dreams that cannot be _

_ And there are storms we cannot weather _

_ I had a dream my life would be _

_ So different from this hell I'm living _

_ So different now from what it seemed _

_ Now life has killed the dream _

_ I dreamed _

  
  



End file.
